June 7, 2009, a date that will live in Braves lore. That was the day that Big Red Tommy Hanson made his Atlanta Braves debut after lighting up every minor league stop prior to reaching the bigs. Hanson arrived in Atlanta just months after dominating spring training. Tommy Gun was also hotly anticipated after he became the first pitcher ever to be named MVP of the Arizona Fall League. Fans were chomping at the bit to get Hanson up with the big club after hearing tales of his 90 strikeouts an 1.49 ERA in just 66.1 innings of work in Gwinnett. Said former Gwinnett teammate, roommate and current Braves starter Kris Medlen, who actually made his major league debut a few weeks before Hanson, "We knew it was just a matter of time before he was here." With all of the Braves Nation watching, Hanson merely went out and went 11-4 in 21 starts, boasting a 2.8 ERA, striking out 116 in 127.2 innings of work. By the end of the season, Hanson was the Braves best option to take the rubber and might have captured the Rookie of the Year award had he made a few more starts earlier in the year. Hanson had lived up to the hype and raised the bar to potentially unrealistic expectations. "I don't feel any extra pressure," said Hanson of the bar that he raised for himself.
This season Hanson's strikeout totals haven't been as high and he was 4-3 as of last Sunday, but the big right-hander is averaging more than a strikeout per inning and should surpass last season's innings total by September. Now that Hanson has been up for a season and tasted some success early in his career, he has gotten a little perspective. "It (Strikeouts) is just of those things that happens. I try to win the game, that's my only goal when I go out to pitch." Recently the strikeouts have been coming a little more often for Hanson as he has K'd ten and seven in recent consecutive starts, but Hanson seems to get what pitching is all about. "It's good to get the strikeouts, but that's not my main goal when I go out there trying to pitch."
Getting the W is something that Hanson has found a little harder to do this season. Last year the Braves won 10 of his first 14 starts and while Atlanta has won seven of his ten starts this season, Hanson has just four wins to show for it. ""Everytime I go out, I just want to win and do well. I'll o as hard as I can to try and get better and learn as much as possible." Still Hanson feels that he is becoming a better pitcher every time out, even if the stats are not as blazing as they were last season. "I know I'm going to go every fifth day and I'm going to go out (and) try and win."
This season the combination of Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson was supposed to light the world on fire with the best under-25 one-two punch in the majors. Jurrjens has suffered through various injuries while Hanson's numbers have dipped a bit, though it is still very early in the season. Tim Hudson has also come back very well from injury and Derek Lowe is seemingly winning every time out on the mound. The fans still though come out to see Hanson. The big righty from Tulsa, OK by way of Redlands, California has become the new "IT" pitcher for Atlanta, the one that everyone pays to go see when they hear he is on the rubber. Hanson though is quick to deflect that status however. "We've got a tone of good pitchers here. (However) If people want to come out and watch me, it's always more fun when you have people in the stands."
It is still early in the year and so early in the career of Tommy Hanson, but one can only think that this kid has it and understands his role to the team. "It's not how many strikeouts you can get but it's going out there and getting a W." Hanson also has passed the torch of can't-miss-prospect on to Jason Hewyard this season. As much hullabuloo as Hanson received last year, Heyward received even more this spring training. Hanson complimented the young rightfielder, saying that he didn't really need to pass along any new information. "He handles everything well, going out there and playing well; going out there and playing hard like he should." In just one brief calendar year Hanson has gone from can't-miss-the-next-big-thing to simply a dominating starter that gives his team a chance to win every time out to the bump. That is all you can ask from a pitcher, who truly seems to get it.
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